The Old School Gate

The old school gate still stands here though The school has long since gone, It stands amongst the hedgerow now And opens for no one, The school gate leads to nowhere No one passes through it now, And it remains so firmly shut Yet it survived somehow. Although its frame is rusting well And crumbling away, It stands there as a symbol of A long forgotten day, A small estate of houses where The classrooms used to be, The playground too has vanished now It breaks my heart to see. So many times I'd waited here So many times passed through, I close my eyes and can recall The times that I once knew, The parting and the welcoming I held my mother's hand, Beside this gate in front of me That can now barely stand. So sad to see it in this state So many years gone by, Yet while it lasts my dreams survive And memories will not die, The faces of the teachers And the faces of my friends, The sight of children playing there Yet here is where it ends.